Method and system for communication in instant messaging application

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present application provide a method and system for for performing an allocation operation. During operation, the system may receive an object allocation request from a computing device associated with an allocation source. The system may determine the allocation source, one or more allocation targets, one or more notification targets, and a quantity of objects to be allocated based on the object allocation request. The system may extract objects to be allocated corresponding to the quantity of objects to be allocated from an object set corresponding to the allocation source. The system may then allocate the objects to be allocated to the allocation targets. The system may notify the notification targets of messages related to the allocation operation.

RELATED APPLICATION

Under 35 U.S.C. 119, this application claims the benefits and rights ofpriority of Chinese Patent Application No. 201510967580.6, filed 21 Dec.2015.

BACKGROUND

Field

The present invention relates to instant messaging technology, andparticularly relates to a method and system for providing gift objectsto one or more members of a group while notifying others of theallocation.

Related Art

With the development of network technology, there emerges a variety ofapproaches for sending monetary gifts or other objects. For example, onecan send money using a gift function in a software application. A giftfunction may be a virtual product designed to resemble the act ofoffering real gifts.

SUMMARY

One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a system forperforming an allocation operation. During operation, the system mayreceive an object allocation request from a computing device associatedwith an allocation source. The system may determine the allocationsource, one or more allocation targets, one or more notificationtargets, and a quantity of objects to be allocated based on the objectallocation request. The system may extract objects to be allocatedcorresponding to the quantity of objects to be allocated from an objectset corresponding to the allocation source. The system may then allocatethe objects to be allocated to the allocation targets. The system maynotify the notification targets of messages related to the allocationoperation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings described herein are used for furtherunderstanding the present application and constitute a part of thepresent application, and the schematic embodiments of the presentapplication and the descriptions thereof are used for interpreting thepresent application, rather than improperly limiting the presentapplication. In which:

FIG. 1 presents a schematic diagram of an exemplary computing systemthat facilitates an object allocation process, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process forallocating objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary messagesession window, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplaryapplication screen with menu options, in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 5 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary giftobject configuration page, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary giftobject configuration page, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 7 presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for objectallocation, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary messagesession window when receiving gift object, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 presents a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary superimposedcontent when a user receives and views gift object, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary messagesession window with a preset trigger icon, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary messagesession window when receiving a notification, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 presents a schematic diagram illustrating another exemplarymessage session window when receiving notification of gift objectwithout receiving an allocation, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent application.

FIG. 13 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary systemarchitecture of an electronic device for allocating objects among groupmembers, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary apparatusfor allocating objects among group members, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary serverfor allocating objects among group members, in accordance with anembodiment of the present application.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention solve the problem of offering agift object to one or more specific users in a group chat session byallowing a user's computing device to send to a server an objectallocation request that specifies allocation targets, notificationtargets, and a quantity of objects (e.g., a number of reward or giftobjects) to be allocated. The user is called an allocation source.Allocation targets are other users that receive portions of the giftobject. Notification targets are users that receive informationregarding the offered gift objects without actually receiving therewards, which facilitates motivating the notification targets. Theallocation source, allocation targets, and notification targets may allbe members of a group in an organization. The “gift objects,” or simply“objects,” can be monetary funds, such as lucky money, traditionalChinese “red envelop” monetary gift, gift cards, or any type of rewardor bonus that can be transferred from one user to another. In an objectallocation system, the server may extract objects to be allocated froman object set and allocate the objects accordingly among the allocationtargets. For example, the server may extract funds from a businessaccount and allocate the money to specific members of the group. Theserver may also notify the notification targets of the allocation. Forexample, the server may notify group members who do not receive anyallocated funds that money is being allocated to other members of thegroup.

Sending Gift Objects in Organizations

A business organization may allow a user to send a gift object, and thegift object may indicate specifically that the user sends funds or otheritems (e.g., virtual goods, coupons) etc. to other users. In anenterprise scenario, a manager, financial staff, or other authorizedstaff members may access a fund account and send a gift object withfunds or other virtual goods. The account may be, for example, anindividual account of a user (e.g., a personal bank account), a publicfund account, or an enterprise fund account.

When sending a gift object, in various application scenarios, one maysend the gift object either to an individual or to all members in agroup. In some application scenarios a user may desire to send a giftobject to some members of a team. Existing technologies only allow thesender to send to each team member individually and separately. However,the sender may sometimes wish to allow other team members to know of thegift object being awarded to certain user(s). If the sender sends thegift object to the entire team, then all members in the team may clickon and receive the gift object, and the sender cannot effectivelycontrol who may receive the contents of the gift object. Withembodiments of the present invention, the sender may choose to send thegift object to one or more specific group members while allowing othermembers of the same group to observe the transfer of the gift objectwithout receiving the gift object. This configuration can be useful in acorporate environment, where a public award to certain members of agroup can serve to motivate other members in the same group.

Computing System for Allocating Objects

FIG. 1 presents a schematic diagram of an exemplary computing system 100that facilitates an object allocation process, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a user102 may be operating a client computing device 104 with installedmodules that allows user 102 to participate in instant messaging, aswell as send and receive gift objects. When user 102 allocates objects(e.g., sends reward or bonus money) to other parties, user 102 is anallocation source. Computing device 104 may be a mobile device such as amobile phone, a tablet, or a laptop, a desktop computer, or any othertype of computing device. User 102 may represent, for example, a memberof a group in a business organization. Computing device 104 maycommunicate with a server 106 over a network 108. Server 106 mayrepresent an enterprise server that allows users to send instantmessages, as well as send and receive gift objects. Server 106 mayinclude a storage 110 for storing code for various applications andother data, such as code for object allocation software, user data, andobject data (e.g., including funds or other virtual objects). Storage110 may also store code for the modules described herein, such as codefor a determining module that determines an allocation source,allocation targets, notification targets, and a quantity of objects(e.g., a number of objects) to be allocated based on an objectallocation request. Further, server 106 may represent a cluster ofmachines supporting functions of the enterprise server.

User 112 may operate a client 114, user 116 may operate a client 118,and user 120 may operate a client 122. For example, user 112 may operateclient 114 to connect to server 106, and receive and send instantmessages with other users operating other computing devices, as well assend and receive gift objects. User 112 can use client 114 to conductinstant messaging with other parties, such as user 102. User 112 canalso use client 114 to interact with server 106 and allocate objects toother allocation targets, as well as receive objects allocated by otherparties. Note that each of clients 114, 118, 122 may be a mobile devicesuch as a mobile phone, a tablet, or a laptop, a desktop computer, orany other type of computing device.

In some embodiments, a computing device can send a request forcustomized executable code that when installed allows for instantmessaging, object allocation, and/or interacting with server 106. Theclient can receive the executable code from server 106 and then installthe executable code to enable instant messaging, object allocation, andother interaction with server 106. Further, server 106 can automaticallyupdate the executable code. Server 106 may push software updatesautomatically to clients.

In some embodiments, a client and/or server 106 can also interactdirectly with banks and other online merchants to obtain informationthat an allocation source may use for allocating objects. For example,computing device 104 may retrieve business account information from abank so that the allocation source may view and allocate fundsaccordingly. Computing device 104 may also pull other merchant data toallow an allocation source to select different objects (e.g., merchantproducts) and allocate the objects to allocation targets. Computingdevice 104 may integrate the bank and/or merchant data into a commonuser interface and present the information from the bank and/or merchantdata within a consistent, integrated user interface to a user.

In some embodiments, the computing devices associated with the instantmessaging and object allocation processes can be implemented using apeer-to-peer architecture.

Embodiments of the present invention represent an improvement overexisting systems. A computing device associated with an allocationsource has the additional capability of allocating objects (e.g. funds)to other computing devices associated with group members. The computingdevice may communicate with a server to allocate and notify othermembers of the allocation. The computing device allows the allocationsource to allocate only to a subset of group members, and notify themembers that do not receive an allocation of the allocation operation.

In some embodiments, a computing device (e.g. a client device and/orserver) may generate a data structure and store data representing thedata structure in memory and/or non-transitory storage. The computingdevice may store in the data structure data such as informationassociated with (e.g., describing or indicating) the group members,allocation source, allocation targets, notification targets, quantity ofobjects to be allocated, and/or account information. The computingdevice may also store in data structures the Internet Protocol addresses(IP addresses) of other computing devices, IP address of a server,and/or data associated with a peer-to-peer implementation. The computingdevice may access the data structures to extract stored information,such as during allocation processing, thereby speeding up processingtime in object allocation application scenarios. The computing devicemay re-access the data stored in the data structures when processingfuture object allocations to reduce the time for allocating objects invarious application scenarios. In some embodiments, the computing devicemay cache data associated with the data structures and access the cacheddata, thereby reducing processing time in some application scenarios.

Note that the techniques discussed in the present disclosure representan improvement in various technology areas such as human-machineinteraction, user interfaces, enterprise software, human resourcemanagement software, and communication software.

Process for Allocating Objects

FIG. 2 presents a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process 200 forallocating objects, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. A server may perform the operations depicted in FIG. 2.During operation, the system may initially receive an object allocationrequest from a computing device associated with an allocation source(operation 202). The system may receive the object allocation requestover a network from the computing device.

The system may determine the allocation source, allocation targets,notification targets and a quantity of objects to be allocated based ona received object allocation request (operation 204). The objects may befunds or other items used to reward group members.

The system may extract the objects to be allocated corresponding to thequantity of objects to be allocated from an object set corresponding tothe allocation source (operation 206).

The system may allocate the objects to be allocated to the allocationtargets, and notify notification targets of messages related to theallocation operation (operation 208).

1. Determining Allocation Information

In operation 204, the system may perform various techniques to determineinformation associated with the allocation source, the allocationtargets, the notification targets and the quantity of objects to beallocated. One method for determining the information is describedbelow.

Embodiment I

In an embodiment, the server may determine that a sender of the objectallocation request is the allocation source, and extract data indicatingthe allocation targets and the quantity of objects to be allocated fromthe object allocation request. In other words, the allocation sourcespecifies in advance the allocation targets and the quantity of objectsto be allocated.

As an example, the allocation source may specify the allocation targetsand the quantity of objects to be allocated in advance using a certainapplication program installed on an electronic device. The applicationprogram may be an instant messaging application. For example, theinstant messaging application may be an enterprise instant messaging(EIM) application. One such EIM application is “Ding Talk”.

When the allocation source sends the object allocation request through amessage session window of a communication group, such as in “Ding Talk”,the system may specify the corresponding allocation targets and thequantity of objects to be allocated. The system may automaticallydetermine the notification targets based on characteristics of thegroup.

Message Session Window and Menu Options

FIG. 3 presents a schematic diagram 300 illustrating an exemplarymessage session window 302, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. As illustrated in FIG. 3, an allocation source mayperform an operation in message session window 302 corresponding to a“hard-working team” group. For example, the user may click on a “⊕” icon304 on the lower left corner of the message session window illustratedin FIG. 3 to call out menu options on the bottom of the message sessionwindow. These menu options may be as illustrated in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 presents a schematic diagram 400 illustrating an exemplaryapplication screen with menu options, in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. As depicted in FIG. 4, the menu options mayinclude control buttons 402 for enterprise management, such as thecontrol buttons labeled “post”, “log”, “approve”, and “sign in”. Controlbuttons 402 may also include a control button 404 labeled “lucky money”for sending lucky money and/or other gift objects.

Gift Object Configuration Page

FIG. 5 presents a schematic diagram 500 illustrating an exemplary giftobject configuration page, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. After an allocation source selects the control button404 labeled “lucky money” in FIG. 4, the system may change theapplication screen to the gift object (e.g., “lucky money”)configuration page displayed in FIG. 5.

The allocation source may choose to use either directed lucky money 502or random lucky money 504 for sending lucky money. With directed luckymoney, in a group scenario with multiple members, the allocation sourcemay indicate specifically which members of the group receive a luckymoney allocation. In contrast, random lucky money does not allow theallocation source to specifically indicate which group members willreceive the lucky money. Instead, all members in the group are indicatedas receiving a lucky money allocation.

As shown in FIG. 5, recipients 506 are users who are the allocationtargets. The allocation source may select group members as therecipients from all members in the “hard-working team”. For example, inFIG. 5, there are total of 13 people in the group labeled “hard-workingteam”, but the allocation source selects three members as recipients.When the allocation source selects three people as allocation targetsfrom a total of 13 people in the group labeled “hard-working team”, theserver may automatically determine the nine other group members (besidesthe allocation source and the three allocation targets) to be thenotification targets.

Also, a configuration form 508 labeled “single amount” illustrated inFIG. 5 allows the allocation source to specify the quantity of objectsallocated to each allocation target. In FIG. 5, the quantity of totalobjects to be allocated is $3000*3=$9000.

If the allocation source selects an instant lucky money control 510 onthe lucky money configuration page, the system may perform a messagenotification operation with respect to “simultaneous short message DINGto group members”. The “simultaneous short message DING to groupmembers” text display indicates that the system performs messagenotification by sending a short message. The short message may be aShort Message Service (SMS) message, which is also referred to as a textmessage, and may also be a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message.Similarly, the allocation source may also select “telephone DING” or“in-application DING” (not illustrated) to execute message notificationoperations using telephone or instant messaging methods.

The system may apply the selected instant lucky money option to anobject allocation process, e.g., lucky money sending process. Forexample, after the allocation source selects instant lucky money control510 based on “simultaneous short message DING to group members”illustrated in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, the server may notify the notificationtargets via short message. The server may also send short messages tothe allocation targets. The short message may describe the details ofthe lucky money being sent and a method for receiving the lucky money.When the server receives short message replies from the allocationtargets according to the indicated lucky money receiving method, theserver may allocate the lucky money or other objects to the allocationtargets.

FIG. 5 illustrates an application screen in which objects being sent arefunds. The funds may be sourced from an account corresponding to theallocation source (e.g., object set). In other application scenarios,the objects and the object set may also be of other forms, which are notlimited to the examples disclosed herein.

Embodiment II

As another exemplary embodiment, the server may determine that thesender of the object allocation request is the allocation source, andextract data indicating the allocation targets, the notificationtargets, and the quantity of objects to be allocated specified by theallocation source from the object allocation request. In other words,the allocation source may completely specify in advance all aspects ofthe allocation targets, the notification targets, and the quantity ofobjects to be allocated.

Gift Object Notification Configuration Page

FIG. 6 presents a schematic diagram 600 illustrating an exemplary giftobject notification configuration page, in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 6, an allocation sourcemay configure recipients 602 using a method similar to the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 5. If the user selects three people, the threepeople are called the allocation targets. Similar to the configurationmethod for the recipients, the user may select any group members otherthan the three selected recipients to be notification targets 604. Thenotification targets are displayed next to the word “inform” in FIG. 6.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, the user may select five peopleto be notification targets, who might not be all members of the group.In embodiment II, the allocation targets and the notification targetsmay belong to different groups, and the allocation source mayarbitrarily select the notification targets from an address book.

The allocation source may specify the quantity of objects to beallocated on the gift object (which in this example is lucky money)configuration page as illustrated in FIG. 6. For example, the allocationsource may specify a number for a configuration form 606 labeled “totalamount (random allocation)” displayed in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6 the totalamount for random allocation is $10000. FIG. 5 displays an applicationscreen that includes the single amount configuration form, e.g. each ofthe allocation targets receives an equal quantity of objects to beallocated, which is $3000 as displayed in FIG. 5. In contrast, FIG. 6displays an application screen that includes the “total amount (randomallocation)” configuration form. That is, the system randomly allocatesthe total amount (e.g., $10,000) to all allocation targets, and theamount received by each allocation target is not fixed.

The single amount illustrated in FIG. 5 and the total amount (randomallocation) illustrated in FIG. 6 are configuration forms for thequantity of objects to be allocated. Different embodiments may includeeach of the different types of configuration forms. For example, theconfiguration form for the single amount illustrated in FIG. 5 may alsobe included in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6. Configuration form606 for “total amount (random allocation)” illustrated in FIG. 6 mayalso be included in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5. The allocationsource may select a currently used configuration form, or may directlyuse a default configuration form. Correspondingly, the server may needto perform reasonable allocation for objects to be allocated by using acorresponding object allocation rule in accordance with theconfiguration form selected by the allocation source. The server mayalso perform allocation for objects to be allocated in accordance with adefault rule corresponding to the default configuration form.

The system may also use other configuration forms. For example, thesystem may uniformly allocate all of the quantity of objects to beallocated (the final allocation is illustrated in FIG. 5, but theconfiguration process is different). The system may also separatelyconfigure the quantity of objects for each allocation target (e.g., 1000for user A, 3000 for user B, 5000 for user C). Embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to the examples of configuration formsprovided herein.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, on the lucky moneyconfiguration page, a user may add a corresponding description 608 whensending the lucky money, such as “Q3 Reward for high-performingemployees”, in order to differentiate and identify different lucky moneyinstances.

2. Object Allocation—Process for Object Allocation

In operation 208, the system may allocate the objects to be allocated tothe allocation targets using various methods. An example of an objectallocation method is described below.

FIG. 7 presents a flowchart 700 illustrating an exemplary process forobject allocation, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated in FIG. 7, when an allocation target logs ontoa corresponding registered account on a mobile device 702, mobile device702 and a server 704 may interact according to the following operations:

Server 704 may push a session message to mobile device 702 (operation706).

Mobile device 702 may display a preset trigger icon according to thereceived session message (operation 708). A preset trigger icon is anicon that a user may click on to accept, open, and/or view informationassociated with receiving objects in an allocation operation and/ornotification of the allocation operation.

Mobile device 702 may detect a trigger operation (operation 710).

Mobile device 702 may send a trigger request to server 704 according tothe detected trigger operation (operation 712).

Server 704 may allocate the objects to be allocated according to thereceived trigger request (operation 714).

The session message may include data indicating the preset trigger icon,and mobile device 702 may extract the data indicating the preset triggericon from the session message and display the preset trigger icon on apreset page. Alternatively, the session message is only a notificationmessage which the system may use to notify mobile device 702 to displaythe preset trigger icon.

For example, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 each includes user Shelby as a recipientin a lucky money sending scenario. As displayed in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, anallocation source may select user Shelby as a recipient for lucky money,e.g., user Shelby is an allocation target. User Shelby may be loggedonto a registered account on mobile device 702, and the system (e.g.,user Shelby's mobile device) may display a message session window for agroup labeled “hard-working team” as depicted in FIG. 8.

Message Session Window when Receiving Gift Object

FIG. 8 presents a schematic diagram 800 illustrating an exemplarymessage session window when receiving gift object, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Mobile device 702 (e.g., that userShelby is logged onto) may display a message session window of a grouplabeled “hard-working team” as depicted in FIG. 8. As illustrated inFIG. 8, user Shelby may view gift object message 802, which includes alucky money icon 804, sent by user Gary.

In one embodiment, the preset trigger icon may be lucky money icon 804displayed in FIG. 8. After user Shelby clicks on lucky money icon 804displayed in FIG. 8, mobile device 702 may respond to the click as atrigger operation. Mobile device 702 may issue a trigger request toserver 704, in order for server 704 to allocate a corresponding amount(e.g. $3000) from the lucky money to user Shelby.

FIG. 9 presents a schematic diagram 900 illustrating exemplarysuperimposed content when a user receives and views gift object, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. After userShelby clicks on lucky money icon 804 displayed in FIG. 8, the system(e.g. mobile device 702) may superimpose and display content 902illustrated in FIG. 9 over a current message session window. Examples ofpreset trigger icons may include the lucky money icon displayed in FIG.8 and an “Open Lucky Money” icon 904 displayed in FIG. 9. That is, whenuser Shelby clicks on lucky money icon 804 illustrated in FIG. 8 andclicks on “Open Lucky Money” icon 904 illustrated in FIG. 9, mobiledevice 702 may respond to the clicks performed by user Shelby as triggeroperations. Mobile device 702 may issue a trigger request to server 704,in order for server 704 to allocate a corresponding amount (e.g., $3000)from the lucky money to user Shelby.

In some embodiments, a mobile device may include a text-to-speechconverter to read a message from the allocation source to a notificationtarget. The mobile device may also animate icons, including animating anicon using one technique when the mobile device receives a gift objectwith allocated funds, while animating the same (or different) icon usinganother, different technique when the mobile device receives only anotification with no allocated funds. In some embodiments, a user maylog onto a mobile device using a fingerprint scanner on the mobiledevice, and the system may determine that the user is an allocationtarget that is receiving allocated objects. In response to determiningthat the user is an allocation target, the system may directly displaycontent 902 as illustrated in FIG. 9, thereby speeding up access to theallocated objects. The system may also automatically send a message tothe allocation source, server, and/or other group members' mobiledevices in response to detecting the user logging in using thefingerprint scanner and displaying content 902. A server may respond tothe message by allocating a corresponding amount from a gift object tothe user.

FIG. 10 presents a schematic diagram 1000 illustrating an exemplarymessage session window with a preset trigger icon, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Although FIG. 8 and FIG. 9illustrates exemplary preset trigger icons, the system (e.g. mobiledevice 702) may display other forms of preset trigger icons. Forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 10, after user Shelby clicks on luckymoney icon 1002, the system may display messages, such as a presettrigger icon “Open Lucky Money” icon 1004, on the top portion of themessage session window. User Shelby may subsequently perform operationswith mobile device 702 as illustrated and described with respect to FIG.7.

For the embodiments displayed in FIG. 9 or FIG. 10, mobile device 702may also display a message prior to displaying the preset trigger icon.For example, the message may indicate that the allocation source is userGary, list all allocation targets, and indicate that the user may clickon “View Receiving Details” to view the details for receiving the luckymoney. The message may also display details for receiving the luckymoney for each allocation target.

In some embodiments, the system may also display a preset trigger icon,such as lucky money icon 1002, in a sidebar window. The sidebar windowmay be a lucky money receiving window separately used for receivinglucky money. The system may also display lucky money icon 1002 as apreset trigger icon in an independent session window associated with anenterprise financial account and user Shelby for receiving lucky money.

3. Message Notification

In operation 208, the system may apply different methods to notifynotification targets of messages related to the allocation operation.The message notification method is described below using specificexamples.

Although the system may allocate objects to be allocated only to theallocation targets without allocating to the notification targets, thesystem may still notify notification targets of messages related to theallocation operation. This correspondingly encourages the notificationtargets to work harder. For example, in enterprise management or teammanagement scenarios, one may reward a portion of employees (e.g.,allocation targets) with funds or other awards (e.g., objects) directlyand provide the reward information to other employees that do notreceive the reward (e.g., notification targets). Those employees who arenot rewarded may be encouraged to learn more and work harder.

In an embodiment, the server may use a default method to notify thenotification targets of messages. Alternatively, the server may alsodetermine the notification method specified by the allocation source inthe object allocation request, and notify the notification targets ofmessages related to the allocation operation in accordance with thenotification method. For the server, there are many optionalnotification methods (e.g., the allocation source may select any ofthese notification methods), which are described by way of examplebelow.

Message Session Window when Receiving Notification

FIG. 11 presents a schematic diagram 1100 illustrating an exemplarymessage session window when receiving a notification, in accordance withan embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 11, theserver may send a notification message to an electronic device 1102 thata notification target is logged onto. For example, the notificationtarget may be user Bobby in FIG. 11. Electronic device 1102 may displaya preset trigger icon, which is a lucky money icon similar to luckymoney icon 804 illustrated in FIG. 8. After user Bobby clicks on thepreset trigger icon, the system may display a superimposed page 1104 asillustrated in FIG. 11. From a comparison of FIG. 11 and FIG. 9, on thedisplay screen for user Bobby, only the message related to theallocation operation can be viewed. The message may include at least oneof: the allocation source is user Gary, all allocation targets, thequantity of allocated objects, and each allocation target's statusassociated with receiving objects (e.g., “View Receiving Details” may beclicked on for viewing additional details). Moreover, the screenillustrated in FIG. 11 does not display an “Open Lucky Money” icon, souser Bobby cannot receive an allocation of funds or any other objectfrom the lucky money.

FIG. 12 presents a schematic diagram 1200 illustrating another exemplarymessage session window when receiving notification of gift objectwithout receiving an allocation, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. Similar to FIG. 10, in the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 12, the system (e.g. mobile device 1202) may display a superimposedpage 1204 at a top portion of a message session window 1206. However, inFIG. 12 there is no “Open Lucky Money” icon (e.g., such as “Open LuckyMoney” icon 1004) displayed so user Bobby may not receive an allocationof funds or any other reward objects from lucky money.

User Bobby may initially click on a lucky money icon 1208 similar tothat illustrated in FIG. 8. The click operation is a predefined triggeroperation for displaying a message related to the allocation operation.The predefined trigger operation may also be in other forms. Forexample, the predefined trigger operation may be an operation foropening a message session window of a group. After mobile device 1202that user Bobby is logged onto receives a notification message from aserver, user Bobby may simply click and enter a message session windowof a corresponding group on the electronic device. The system may thenautomatically display a message related to the allocation operation inone of the formats illustrated in FIG. 11 or FIG. 12. The automaticdisplay guarantees that user Bobby may view the related messageimmediately, such that user Bobby may view and click on the lucky moneyicons without needing to scroll through multiple pages manually whenthere are excessive messages in the group.

Notification and Allocation Communication Methods

If user Gary sends lucky money to the group “hard-working team”, thegroup members may perform operations for receiving the lucky money andviewing messages using a message session window of the group. In someembodiments, the server may display messages related to the allocationoperation for the notification targets using a method that does notinvolve the message session window of the group. For example, the servermay send communication information including messages related to theallocation operation to the notification targets using various methods,including instant messages, text messages, and email. The server mayalso transform a message related to the allocation operation into anaudio message, and broadcast the audio message after establishing callswith the notification targets. Alternatively, the server maysimultaneously use the various message notification methods disclosedherein to guarantee that the notification targets can receive and viewcorresponding message content on time. As displayed in FIG. 5 and FIG.6, if the allocation source selects the instant lucky money control onthe lucky money configuration page, the system may perform a messagenotification operation with respect to “simultaneous short message DINGto group members”. The “simultaneous short message DING to groupmembers” text display indicates that the system performs messagenotification by sending a short message. The short message may be a SMSmessage, which is also referred to as a text message, and may also be aMMS message. Similarly, the allocation source may also select “telephoneDING” or “in-application DING” to execute message notificationoperations using telephone or instant messaging methods.

The system may apply a selected instant lucky money option to an objectallocation process, e.g., a lucky money sending process. For example,after the allocation source selects instant lucky money control 510based on “simultaneous short message DING to group members” illustratedin FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, the server may notify the notification targets viashort message. The server may also send short messages to the allocationtargets. The short message may describe the details of the lucky moneybeing sent and a method for receiving the lucky money. When the serverreceives short message replies from the allocation targets according tothe indicated lucky money receiving method, the server may allocate thelucky money or other objects to the allocation targets.

Alternatively, after the allocation source selects an instant luckymoney control based on “telephone DING”, the server may make a phonecall over a network to notify the notification targets. The server maycall the allocation targets and broadcast details of the lucky money anda method for receiving the lucky money and/or any other allocatedobjects. The allocation targets may accordingly input a character stringvia a dial pad of a call interface, or may establish a voice call. Afterreceiving the character string or the voice call, the server mayallocate the lucky money or other objects to the allocation targets ifthe character string or the content of the voice call is consistent withpredetermined content.

Short messages and phone calls often are strongly suggestive incomparison to the internal messages of applications such as instantmessaging applications. Therefore short messages and phone calls areeffective in helping allocation targets to timely receive allocatedobjects, such as lucky money, and may guarantee timely and effectivenotification for the notification targets.

Electronic Device

FIG. 13 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary systemarchitecture of an electronic device 1300 for allocating objects amonggroup members, in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. At the hardware layer, the electronic device may include aprocessor 1302, an internal bus 1304, a network interface 1306, RAM1308, and nonvolatile memory 1310. Electronic device 1300 may includeother hardware not depicted in the illustration. Processor 1302 mayexecute an object allocation computer program after reading the objectallocation computer program from nonvolatile memory 1310 into RAM 1308.The computer program may perform the processes described herein, whichincludes allocating objects to allocation targets.

Apparatus for Allocating Objects Among Group Members

FIG. 14 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary systemarchitecture of an apparatus 1400 for allocating objects among groupmembers, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.Apparatus 1400 may include a determining module 1402, an extractingmodule 1404, and a processing module 1406.

Determining module 1402 may receive an object allocation request, anddetermine an allocation source, allocation targets, notificationtargets, and a quantity of objects (e.g., a number of objects) to beallocated based on the received object allocation request.

Extracting module 1404 may extract the objects to be allocatedcorresponding to the quantity of objects to be allocated from an objectset corresponding to the allocation source.

Processing module 1406 may allocate the objects to be allocated to theallocation targets, and notify notification targets of messages relatedto the allocation operation.

Determining module 1402 may also determine that a sender of the objectallocation request is the allocation source. Determining module 1402 mayextract data indicating the allocation targets, notification targets,and the quantity of objects to be allocated specified by the allocationsource from the object allocation request. When the allocation sourcesends the object allocation request to a group, the notification targetsare members of the group excluding the allocation source and excludingthe allocation targets.

In some embodiments, the group is a group in an instant messagingapplication. Optionally, the instant messaging application is anenterprise instant messaging application. In some embodiments,processing module 1406 allocates the objects to be allocated to theallocation targets by performing operations that include pushing asession message to a computing device that the allocation target islogged onto. The computing device may respond to receiving the sessionmessage by displaying a corresponding preset trigger icon.

In response to receiving a preset trigger request sent from thecomputing device, the system may allocate the objects to be allocated tothe allocation target. The preset trigger request may be sent by thecomputing device in response to detecting that the allocation targetperforms a trigger operation on a preset trigger icon.

In some embodiments, allocating the objects to be allocated to theallocation targets may include allocating a corresponding quantity ofobjects to each allocation target according to at least one of a defaultobject allocation rule and an object allocation rule included in anobject allocation request.

The object allocation rule may specify at least one of allocatinguniformly, allocating randomly, and allocating according to a quantityallocated for each allocation target as specified by the allocationsource.

Processing module 1406 may allocate objects to be allocated to theallocation targets by performing operations as described below:

Processing module 1406 may make a phone call to notify the allocationtargets. Processing unit 1406 may call the allocation targets andbroadcast a method for receiving the objects to be allocated. Theallocation targets may input a character string via a call interface, ormay establish a voice call. After receiving the character string or thevoice call, processing unit 1406 may allocate the objects to beallocated to the allocation targets if the character string or thecontent of the call voice is consistent with predetermined content.

Processing module 1406 may notify the notification targets of messagesrelated to the allocation operation by extracting data indicating anotification method specified by the allocation source from the objectallocation request, and notifying the notification target of messagesrelated to the allocation operation according to the notificationmethod.

Processing module 1406 may notify the notification targets of messagesrelated to the allocation operation by pushing a notification message toa notification target. A computing device that the notification targetis logged onto may detect a predefined trigger operation, and display amessage related to the allocation operation.

The allocation source, the allocation target, and the notificationtarget may be from a same group, and the predefined trigger operationmay include opening a message session window of the group.

Exemplary Embodiments

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a system for performing anallocation operation. During operation, the system may receive an objectallocation request from a computing device associated with an allocationsource. The system may determine the allocation source, one or moreallocation targets, one or more notification targets, and a quantity ofobjects to be allocated based on the object allocation request. Thesystem may extract objects to be allocated corresponding to the quantityof objects to be allocated from an object set corresponding to theallocation source. The system may allocate the objects to be allocatedto the allocation targets. The system may then notify the notificationtargets of messages related to the allocation operation.

In a variation on this embodiment, determining the allocation source,the allocation targets, the notification targets, and the quantity ofobjects to be allocated based on the received object allocation requestincludes determining that a sender of the object allocation request isthe allocation source. The system may also extract data indicating theallocation targets, notification targets, and the quantity of objects tobe allocated specified by the allocation source from the objectallocation request.

In a variation on this embodiment, determining the allocation source,the allocation targets, the notification targets, and the quantity ofobjects to be allocated based on the received object allocation requestincludes determining that a sender of the object allocation request isthe allocation source. The system may then extract data indicating theallocation targets and the quantity of objects to be allocated from theobject allocation request. The allocation source may send the objectallocation request to a group, and the notification targets are membersof the group excluding the allocation source and excluding theallocation targets.

In a variation on this embodiment, the group is a group in an instantmessaging application.

In a further variation, the instant messaging application is anenterprise instant messaging application.

In a variation on this embodiment, allocating the objects to beallocated to the allocation targets includes pushing a session messageto a second computing device that an allocation target is logged onto.The second computing device may respond to receiving the session messageby displaying a preset trigger icon. In response to receiving a presettrigger request sent from the second computing device, the system mayallocate the objects to be allocated to the allocation target. Note thatthe preset trigger request is sent by the second computing device inresponse to detecting that the allocation target performs a triggeroperation on the preset trigger icon.

In a variation on this embodiment, allocating the objects to beallocated to the allocation targets includes allocating a correspondingquantity of objects to each allocation target according to at least oneof a default object allocation rule and a particular object allocationrule included in the object allocation request.

In a further variation, the particular object allocation rule includedin the object allocation request specifies at least one of allocatinguniformly, allocating randomly, and allocating according to a quantityallocated for each allocation target as specified by the allocationsource.

In a variation on this embodiment, allocating the objects to beallocated to the allocation targets includes establishing voice callswith the allocation targets over a network and broadcasting a method forreceiving allocated objects. A particular allocation target may performat least one of inputting a character string via a call interface andestablishing a voice call. In response to receiving at least one of thecharacter string and the voice call, the system may determine that thecharacter string or a content of the voice call is consistent with apredetermined content, and allocate the objects to be allocated to theparticular allocation target.

In a variation on this embodiment, notifying the notification targets ofmessages related to the allocation operation includes extracting dataindicating a notification method specified by the allocation source fromthe object allocation request. The system may then notify thenotification targets of messages related to the allocation operationaccording to the notification method.

In a variation on this embodiment, notifying the notification targets ofmessages related to the allocation operation includes pushing anotification message to a computing device that a particularnotification target is logged onto. The computing device may detect apredefined trigger operation, and displays a message related to theallocation operation in response to detecting the predefined triggeroperation.

In a further variation, the allocation source, the allocation targets,and the notification targets are members of a group, and the predefinedtrigger operation includes the computing device receiving user inputopening a message session window of the group.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may also include acomputer-implemented method for communication in an instant messaginggroup having multiple members. During operation, the system may display,at a computing device of a user, a graphical user interface having atleast a first gift object mode option and a second gift object modeoption. The first gift object mode option is selectable by the user tosend a first-type gift object message to a group-chat window so thateach member of the instant messaging group has an opportunity to obtainat least message portion of the gift object. The second gift object modeoption is selectable by the user to send a second-type gift objectmessage to the group-chat window so that only those members designatedby the second-type gift object message can receive the gift object or aportion thereof.

The system may receive user input to select the second gift object modeoption. The system may receive user selection of one or more members toeach receive at least a portion of the second-type gift object. Thesystem may then receive user input indicating a quantity of objects tobe allocated to each of the selected members. The system may thenextract from an object set the objects to be allocated corresponding tothe user defined quantity, and allocate the objects to the selectedmembers.

Exemplary Server

FIG. 15 presents a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary server1500 for allocating objects among group members, in accordance with anembodiment of the present application. Server 1500 may include aprocessor 1510, a memory 1520, and a storage device 1530. Storage 1530typically stores instructions that can be loaded into memory 1520 andexecuted by processor 1510 to perform the methods described above. Inone embodiment, the instructions in storage 1530 can implement adetermining module 1542, an extracting module 1544, and a processingmodule 1546 which can communicate with each other through various means.

In some embodiments, modules 1542-1546 can be partially or entirelyimplemented in hardware and can be part of processor 1510. Further, insome embodiments, the server may not include a separate processor andmemory. Instead, in addition to performing their specific tasks, modules1542-1546, either separately or in concert, may be part ofspecial-purpose computation engines.

Storage 1530 stores programs to be executed by processor 1510.Specifically, storage 1530 stores a program that implements a server(e.g., application) for allocating objects among group members. Duringoperation, the application program can be loaded from storage 1530 intomemory 1520 and executed by processor 1510. As a result, server 1500 canperform the functions described above. Server 1500 can further includean optional display 1580, and can be coupled via one or more networkinterfaces to a network 1582.

Determining module 1542 may receive an object allocation request, anddetermine an allocation source, allocation targets, notificationtargets, and a quantity of objects (e.g., a number of objects) to beallocated based on the object allocation request.

Extracting module 1544 may extract the objects to be allocatedcorresponding to the quantity of objects to be allocated from an objectset corresponding to the allocation source.

Processing module 1546 may allocate the objects to be allocated to theallocation targets, and notify notification targets of messages relatedto the allocation operation.

Embodiments of the present invention may be implemented on variousuniversal or dedicated computer system environments or configurations.For example, the computer systems may include personal computers, servercomputers, handheld or portable devices, tablet-type devices,multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, set-top boxes,programmable electronic consumption devices, network PCs, minicomputers,mainframe computers, distributed computing environments including any ofthe above systems or devices, and the like.

Embodiments of the present invention may be described within the generalcontext of computer-executable instructions executed by a computer, suchas a program module. Generally, the program module may include aroutine, a program, an object, an assembly, a data structure and thelike for implementing particular tasks or achieving particular abstractdata types. Embodiments of the present invention may also be implementedin distributed computing environments, in which tasks are performed byremote processing devices connected via a communication network. In thedistributed computing environments, program modules may be located inlocal and remote computer storage media that may include a storagedevice.

The data structures and computer instructions described in this detaileddescription are typically stored on a computer-readable storage medium,which may be any device or medium that can store code and/or data foruse by a computer system. The computer-readable storage medium mayinclude, but is not limited to, volatile memory, non-volatile memory,magnetic and optical storage devices such as disk drives, magnetic tape,CDs (compact discs), DVDs (digital versatile discs or digital videodiscs), or other media capable of storing computer-readable media nowknown or later developed.

The methods and processes described in the detailed description sectioncan be embodied as code and/or data, which can be stored in acomputer-readable storage medium as described above. When a computersystem reads and executes the code and/or data stored on thecomputer-readable storage medium, the computer system performs themethods and processes embodied as data structures and code and storedwithin the computer-readable storage medium.

Furthermore, methods and processes described herein can be included inhardware modules or apparatus. These modules or apparatus may include,but are not limited to, an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC) chip, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a dedicated orshared processor that executes a particular software module or a pieceof code at a particular time, and/or other programmable-logic devicesnow known or later developed. When the hardware modules or apparatus areactivated, they perform the methods and processes included within them.

The above description is presented to enable any person skilled in theart to make and use the embodiments, and is provided in the context of aparticular application and its requirements. Various modifications tothe disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied toother embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present invention is notlimited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for performing anallocation operation, comprising: receiving a gift object allocationrequest from a first computing device of a user, wherein the usercomprises an allocation source; determining the allocation source, oneor more allocation targets, one or more notification targets to whom nogift objects are to be allocated based on the allocation request, and aquantity of gift objects to be allocated based on the gift objectallocation request, wherein the allocation source sends the gift objectallocation request for a group in an instant messaging application,wherein members of the group include the allocation source, firstmembers which are the allocation targets, and second members which arethe notification targets, wherein the notification targets comprise asubset of the members of the group which are not allocation targets,wherein the allocation source selects the first members and the secondmembers from among the group; extracting gift objects to be allocatedcorresponding to the quantity of gift objects to be allocated from agift object set corresponding to the gift object allocation request bythe allocation source; allocating the gift objects to be allocated tothe allocation targets; and notifying, via the instant messagingapplication, the first members and the second members of the group ofthe allocation of the gift objects in a gift object message from theallocation source, wherein notifying the second members comprises:displaying, on a screen of a second computing device executing theinstant message application and associated with a notification target, afirst preset trigger icon; and in response to receiving a user actionassociated with the first preset trigger icon, displaying on the screenof the second computing device a superimposed message over a currentmessage window, wherein the superimposed message indicates theallocation source, the allocation targets, and the quantity of theallocated gift objects.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningthe allocation source, the allocation targets, the notification targets,and the quantity of gift objects to be allocated based on the giftobject allocation request comprises: determining that a sender of thegift object allocation request is the allocation source; and extractingdata indicating the allocation targets, the notification targets, andthe quantity of gift objects to be allocated specified by the allocationsource from the gift object allocation request.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein determining the allocation source, the allocation targets,the notification targets, and the quantity of gift objects to beallocated based on the gift object allocation request comprises:determining that a sender of the gift object allocation request is theallocation source; and extracting data indicating the allocation targetsand the quantity of gift objects to be allocated from the gift objectallocation request; wherein the notification targets are members of thegroup excluding the allocation source and excluding the allocationtargets.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein allocating the gift objectsto be allocated to the allocation targets comprises: pushing a sessionmessage to a third computing device that an allocation target is loggedonto, wherein the third computing device responds to receiving thesession message by displaying a second preset trigger icon; and inresponse to receiving a preset trigger request sent from the thirdcomputing device, allocating the gift objects to be allocated to theallocation target, wherein the preset trigger request is sent by thethird computing device in response to detecting that the allocationtarget performs a trigger operation on the second preset trigger icon.5. The method of claim 1, wherein allocating the gift objects to beallocated to the allocation targets comprises: allocating acorresponding quantity of gift objects to each allocation targetaccording to at least one of a default object allocation rule and aparticular object allocation rule included in the gift object allocationrequest.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the particular objectallocation rule included in the gift object allocation request specifiesat least one of allocating uniformly, allocating randomly, andallocating according to a quantity allocated for each allocation targetas specified by the allocation source.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinallocating the gift objects to be allocated to the allocation targetscomprises: establishing voice calls with the allocation targets andbroadcasting a method for receiving allocated gift objects, wherein aparticular allocation target performs at least one of inputting acharacter string via a call interface and establishing a voice call; andin response to receiving at least one of the character string and thevoice call, determining that the character string or a content of thevoice call is consistent with a predetermined content, and allocatingthe gift objects to be allocated to the particular allocation target. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein notifying the second members furthercomprises: extracting data indicating a notification method specified bythe allocation source from the gift object allocation request; andnotifying the notification targets of messages related to the allocationoperation according to the notification method.
 9. The method of claim1, wherein notifying the second members further comprises: pushing anotification message to a fourth computing device that a particularnotification target is logged onto, wherein the fourth computing devicedetects a predefined trigger operation, and displays a message relatedto the allocation operation in response to detecting the predefinedtrigger operation.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predefinedtrigger operation includes the computing device receiving user inputopening a message session window of the group.
 11. A computing systemcomprising: one or more processors; and a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium coupled to the one or more processors storinginstructions stored that, when executed by the one or more processors,cause the computing system to perform a method for an allocationoperation, the method comprising: receiving a gift object allocationrequest from a first computing device of a user, wherein the usercomprises an allocation source; determining the allocation source, oneor more allocation targets, one or more notification targets to whom nogift objects are to be allocated based on the allocation request, and aquantity of gift objects to be allocated based on the gift objectallocation request, wherein the allocation source sends the gift objectallocation request for a group in an instant messaging application,wherein members of the group include the allocation source, firstmembers which are the allocation targets, and second members which arethe notification targets, wherein the notification targets comprise asubset of the members of the group which are not allocation targets,wherein the allocation source selects the first members and the secondmembers from among the group; extracting gift objects to be allocatedcorresponding to the quantity of gift objects to be allocated from agift object set corresponding to the gift object allocation request bythe allocation source; allocating the gift objects to be allocated tothe allocation targets; and notifying, via the instant messagingapplication, the first members and the second members of the group ofthe allocation of the gift objects in a gift object message from theallocation source, wherein notifying the second members comprises:displaying, on a screen of a second computing device executing theinstant messaging application and associated with a notification target,a first preset trigger icons; and in response to receiving a user actionassociated with the first preset trigger icon, displaying on the screenof the second computing device a superimposed message over a currentmessage window, wherein the superimposed message indicates theallocation source, the allocation targets, and the quantity of theallocated gift objects.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein determiningthe allocation source, the allocation targets, the notification targets,and the quantity of gift objects to be allocated based on the giftobject allocation request comprises: determining that a sender of thegift object allocation request is the allocation source; and extractingdata indicating the allocation targets, the notification targets, andthe quantity of gift objects to be allocated specified by the allocationsource from the gift object allocation request.
 13. The system of claim11, wherein determining the allocation source, the allocation targets,the notification targets, and the quantity of gift objects to beallocated based on the gift object allocation request comprises:determining that a sender of the gift object allocation request is theallocation source; and extracting data indicating the allocation targetsand the quantity of gift objects to be allocated from the gift objectallocation request; wherein the notification targets are members of thegroup excluding the allocation source and excluding the allocationtargets.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein allocating the gift objectsto be allocated to the allocation targets comprises: pushing a sessionmessage to a third computing device that an allocation target is loggedonto, wherein the third computing device responds to receiving thesession message by displaying a second preset trigger icon; and inresponse to receiving a preset trigger request sent from the thirdcomputing device, allocating the gift objects to be allocated to theallocation target, wherein the preset trigger request is sent by thethird computing device in response to detecting that the allocationtarget performs a trigger operation on the second preset trigger icon.15. The system of claim 11, wherein allocating the gift objects to beallocated to the allocation targets comprises: allocating acorresponding quantity of gift objects to each allocation targetaccording to at least one of a default object allocation rule and aparticular object allocation rule included in the gift object allocationrequest.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the particular objectallocation rule included in the gift object allocation request specifiesat least one of allocating uniformly, allocating randomly, andallocating according to a quantity allocated for each allocation targetas specified by the allocation source.
 17. The system of claim 11,wherein allocating the gift objects to be allocated to the allocationtargets comprises: establishing voice calls with the allocation targetsover a network and broadcasting a method for receiving allocated giftobjects, wherein a particular allocation target performs at least one ofinputting a character string via a call interface and establishing avoice call; and in response to receiving at least one of the characterstring and the voice call, determining that the character string or acontent of the voice call is consistent with a predetermined content,and allocating the gift objects to be allocated to the particularallocation target.
 18. The system of claim 11, wherein notifying thesecond members further comprises: extracting data indicating anotification method specified by the allocation source from the giftobject allocation request; and notifying the notification targets ofmessages related to the allocation operation according to thenotification method.
 19. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause thecomputer to perform a method for performing an allocation operation, themethod comprising: receiving a gift object allocation request from afirst computing device of a user, wherein the user comprises anallocation source; determining the allocation source, one or moreallocation targets, one or more notification targets to whom no giftobjects are to be allocated based on the allocation request, and aquantity of gift objects to be allocated based on the gift objectallocation request, wherein the allocation source sends the gift objectallocation request for a group in an instant messaging application,wherein members of the group include the allocation source, firstmembers which are the allocation targets, and second members which arethe notification targets, wherein the notification targets comprise asubset of the members of the group which are not allocation targets,wherein the allocation source selects the first members and the secondmembers from among the group; extracting gift objects to be allocatedcorresponding to the quantity of gift objects to be allocated from agift object set corresponding to the gift object allocation request bythe allocation source; allocating the gift objects to be allocated tothe allocation targets; and notifying, via the instant messagingapplication, the first members and the second members of the group ofthe allocation of the gift objects in a gift object message from theallocation source, wherein notifying the second members comprises:displaying, on a screen of a second computing device executing theinstant messaging application and associated with a notification target,a first preset trigger icon; and in response to receiving a user actionassociated with the first preset trigger icon, displaying on the screenof the second computing device a superimposed message over a currentmessage window, wherein the superimposed message indicates theallocation source, the allocation targets, and the quantity of theallocated gift objects.
 20. A computer-implemented method forcommunication in an instant messaging group having multiple members, themethod comprising: displaying, at a first computing device of a user, agraphical user interface having at least a first lucky money mode optionand a second lucky money mode option, wherein the first lucky moneyTriode option is selectable by the user to send a first-type lucky moneymessage to a group-chat window so that each member of the instantmessaging group has an opportunity to obtain at least a gift objectassociated with the first-type lucky money message, wherein the secondlucky money mode option is selectable by the user to send a second-typelucky money message to the group-chat window so that only a first set ofthe members can obtain one or more gift objects associated with thesecond-type lucky money message, wherein the first set of the memberscomprises one or more members predefined with the second-type luckymoney message, and wherein a second set of the members comprises one ormore members who are not predefined with the second-type lucky moneymessage; receiving user input to select the second lucky money modeoption; receiving user selection of the first set of the members to eachreceive one or more gift objects associated with the second-type luckymoney message; receiving user input indicating a quantity of giftobjects to be allocated to each of the selected first set of themembers; extracting gift objects to be allocated corresponding to thequantity of gift objects to be allocated from a gift object setcorresponding to the user; allocating the gift objects to be allocatedto the one or more members of the first set; and notifying, in theinstant messaging group, the first set of the members and the second setof the members of the allocation of the gift objects in a gift objectmessage from the allocation source, wherein notifying the second set ofthe members comprises: displaying, on a screen of a second computingdevice executing in the instant messaging group and associated with amember of the second set, a preset trigger icon; and in response toreceiving a user action associated with the preset trigger icon,displaying on the screen of the second computing device a superimposedmessage over a current message window, wherein the superimposed messageindicates the user, the first set of the members, and the quantity ofthe allocated gift objects.